A/N: Thanks to the reviewers!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

To the sick, while there is life there is hope.

-Cicero

Please be alive...

Cody searched desperately for a pulse.

And found none.

He was crying now, great gulps of tears that poured from his eyes like buckets in the hands of a clumsy child. His trembling hand on his brother's neck grew desperate, as his other palm rested gently on Zack's head, thumbing back his long bangs from his pale forehead.

"No," Cody murmured between sobs, bringing his brother's torso into his lap and gazing into his lifeless face. He bent his head so that they touched foreheads; grief overcoming him like a tidal wave rids a town of its serenity.

"Why…?" Cody whispered, breath hitching in his throat. "You can't die, Zack…" he moaned, his voice small and weak. If he'd just gotten there sooner…He gulped, blurry vision swarmed with salty tears. "I'm so sorry, Zack. I'm so sorry…"

And he hugged his brother to him, enveloped in death's icy grasp as his heart beat fast in chest and his mind spun around memories and fear and sorrow and he needed to call 911!

He gently set Zack down and took out his cell phone. His fingers were shaking so badly it took him three tries to turn it on, and he ended up missing the nine twice before he got it right.

"911 dispatch. Please state your emergency."

Cody took a shaky breath and swallowed a sob. "My brother," he managed. "He's not breathing. Something happened; someone hurt him…" Cody sniffed and wiped fresh tears out of his eyes.

"Where are you, sir?"

"Hartford," Cody said in a strangled voice. "Across from the park."

"Are you hurt?"

"Me?" Cody shook his head before remembering she couldn't see him. "No. No I was l-looking for him. My-my mom and my d-dad don't know we're out here."

"Would you like me to contact them?"

Cody considered this. It would be one less thing he'd have to do, and he doubted he could face talking to his mom right now. "Yeah," he whispered. "The-the number…Do you-you need it?"
"Yes, sir, and your names."

Cody shivered. "I'm Cody," he said shakily. "My br-brother's Zack. The phone number-," he had to stop and think, his mind was so scattered. He finally gave it to her and she reminded him to stay calm, because she was sending an ambulance right away. He hung up and started to cry again; he'd never felt so helpless. So hopeless.

And then he felt a pulse.

It was five A.M. and Carey was panicking. She woken up early; having heard the phone a few hours ago and having gotten no sleep to speak of. Cody was somewhere in Hartford; hours away. Looking for Zack…

She hadn't taken Cody seriously. He'd been so convinced that his brother was going to run away and yet she didn't see how he could have known; didn't see the root for his unwavering positivity towards the apparent fact.

She needed to call Kurt.

He didn't answer for the first three rings, and then a voice half asleep answered. "Hello?"
"It's Carey," she said instantly.

"Carey?" Rustling in the background. "It's five A.M."

"Cody's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean-,"

"-He ran away." Carey sighed, running a hand through her short blonde hair. "To find Zack, who he was convinced was gone, too."

"No," said Kurt tiredly. "Zack's here. In bed."

"Check." Carey ordered. She tended to get bossy when she was stressed or worried. Cody's phone message, far from calm her down, had made her even more concerned. He was usually so responsible…

"Hold on." said Kurt, sounding grouchy. Footsteps, a few moments, then: "He's gone."

Carey's heart sunk. "C-Cody left a message. He's in Hartford looking for him."

"Hartford?" Kurt sounded shocked. "Why—Zack wouldn't just—he was doing so well—this is all because of you, Carey!"

Carey was flabbergasted. "Me?" she repeated breathlessly. "What are you talking about-,"

"-You didn't give him the choice!' Kurt shouted angrily. "You made him think that I was kicking him out! He didn't feel like he anywhere to go-,"

"-Hold on," said Carey as a beeping on the phone alerted her to another call. "I have another call. It could be Cody." She switched over. "Hello? Yes." A moment of shocked silence. "Oh, God, are they okay? I'm on my way."

"Carey?" Kurt demanded as she switched back over. "We need-,"

"Kurt-," Carey managed, voice strained and tears in her eyes. "Kurt something's wrong. I just got-got a call f-from a 911 operator." She stopped, breath catching in her throat. "Cody found Zack, but he's-Kurt, they-they said he's h-hurt."

Cody was listening for sirens. He'd found a faint pulse; turns out he needed to practice the art of searching for heartbeats. But Zack wasn't breathing properly, and he still hadn't woken up. He'd lost a lot of blood, too, from the gaping wound in his abdomen, and Cody worried about the faint blue tinge to his brother's lips.

He was in the middle of telling nonsense stories to keep himself sane, when a faint moan stopped him in a second. "Zack?" he whispered, not daring to hope.

Zack's brow furrowed slightly, eyes opening slightly as he gasped for a breath. Cody gently moved his twin's bangs out of his eyes and tried to give a reassuring smile. "Hey, man," he said softly.

"…what're you doing…here?" Zack's voice was quiet and slurred, as he weakly tried to raise his head unsuccessfully.

"I was looking for you," Cody answered, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I knew you'd run away and I found you here."

"…hurts…" Zack whispered, closing his eyes shut and elapsing a small cry. Cody squeezed his hand tightly. "…they…took…" Zack stopped to try to catch his breath, but he struggled with it.

"What?" Cody frowned. "What did they take?"

A single tear escaped Zack's eye and he slowly closed it. "…guitar…"

Cody bit his lip and sighed deeply. He knew how important that instrument was to his brother; knew how it had carried him through hard times and bad times and good times and now this…It had been his constant, his one rock…And to have it taken by muggers on the street…It would break him.

"It's okay," Cody said gently. "We'll get it back, Zack, okay? Somehow…They-they won't get away with it, man."

Zack began to shiver more violently as the blood loss began to set in. His face was white and his lips were ashen, a deep contrast to the crimson all around him. It terrified Cody more than anything had before.

"…miss…you…"

"Yeah, I missed you, too," Cody said, trying to keep his voice level and strong. "It's been awhile." He smoothed down Zack's hair and drew his hand back at the heat radiating off his brother's forehead. "Hey," he said as he noticed Zack's eyes had closed. "Stay with me, okay?"
No answer.

"Zack!" Cody cried out, shaking him gently. The shivering had gotten worse and Cody ripped off his coat to try and stop the bleeding. He should have done that from the start, he realized, but he'd been so scatterbrained…He applied pressure, desperate to save his twin.

And then he heard the sirens.

An hour later found Carey pulling into the hospital, hair a mess and eyes red-rimmed with tears shed for what seemed like an eternity. Kurt sighted her immediately in the waiting room and shot up to comfort her. He put his arms around her and she cried into his shoulder.

"He's in the ER now," he told her when they had sat down. His voice was paper thin and he was pale. "They won't-they won't tell me an-anything."

"And Cody?" Carey whispered. If something had happened to both her boys…

"He's fine," Kurt said. "He went to use the bathroom. I told him to-to go get a snack from the vending machine. He's pretty broken up."

Carey buried her head in her hands. "Did he tell-tell you what-what happened?" she asked, hardly daring.

Kurt sighed deeply and placed a hand on his ex-wife's shoulder. "Maybe this isn't a good time-,"

"-Tell me." Carey demanded softly, bracing herself.

"A group of eight or so men, Cody says, jumped him." Kurt began, clearing his throat frequently. "They-they wanted money or something, and they took his guitar," Carey closed her eyes, her heart-breaking as she knew Zack's would have been. "He-he must have said no because they-they beat him up and took a knife-," Carey gasped, eyes wide and Kurt rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "And they st-stabbed him in his abdomen."

"Oh, God," Carey whispered so faint Kurt almost didn't hear it.

"Cody said he was conscious for a little while, and then the ambulances came."

At that moment the younger twin walked in the waiting room. When Carey saw him she hurried towards him (it was empty save the three of them) and enveloped him tightly in an embrace.

"I'm sorry, mom," Cody was saying between sobs as he cried into her shoulder. "I'm really sorry!"

And Kurt watched his wife and his son from his seat in the plastic chair, feeling an enormous sense of dread and grief and fear overcome him. He felt guilty, and yet angry at the same time...He loved Zack, loved being a father to him. The nine months they'd spent living together were the best he'd had in a long time, and to have this happen...It was unthinkable. It was horrible. Zack was sixteen, he had his whole life in front of him. He had dreams and goals and skills and a life to lead.

Never had Kurt felt so disgusted with the world.

And then a doctor appeared in the doorway.

To Be Continued

Please review!